HORIZON 2020 - Industrial chemical production goes green: researchers harness nature's chemical producers

Conventional industrial chemical production requires harsh conditions and environmentally unfriendly processes to transform raw materials like crude oil into useful chemicals and plastics. But imagine if nature's own chemical cell factories could turn cheap starting materials such as organic waste leftover from farming or food processing into recyclable components for the chemical industry.

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Biotechnology Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies Croatia Germany Netherlands Spain United Kingdom

date: 23/01/2017

Project: Sustainable industrial processes based o...

acronym: CARBAZYMES

See also: Project details

In living organisms, biochemical reactions are taking place all the time – turning nutrients into useful products – facilitated by specialized proteins known as enzymes. These biological catalysts or biocatalysts can be harnessed to accelerate other types of reactions for industrial chemistry – but under much milder conditions.